A second day in St. Petersburg, a second all-day excursion. Today will not be about art. It will be about Empire - a word associated with Star Wars a bit too often. There are Kingdoms, and there are Empires. The Tsars of Russia started with a Kingdom, expanded it to an Empire, and then, like most Emperors, were murdered by their own soldiers. Something to remember if you ever find yourself on an Emperor's throne.
A simple breakfast. If you are going to get judgmental and say, "Look at that. Mister Healthy Fruit Plate is getting his bacon going on." Well, yes, I am. Between us, the fruit on land is a tad better than the fruit that one finds on board. And bacon tastes good.
I thought maybe you would want to see the breakfast buffet. Now you can truly be dissatisfied with the monotony of my breakfasts, considering the choices at hand.
St. Petersburg Canal, Candid. August, 2010
I know, the worst picture to make the blog. Ever. Why did this picture not become black and white? Because this is not a candid of those people. The arrow asks you to turn your attention to the memorial inside the roundabout. This is a memorial to the victims of the Siege of Leningrad. A proper explanation would go on for about an hour, but here are the essentials. Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression agreement. Stalin thought, "Hitler has a whole lot of fronts in this war, no way he brings us into the fight." Hitler looked at Russia's border with its lack of defenses, and saw a fast victory.
The people of St. Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad suffered immeasurably during the war. The Siege of Leningrad began on the summer solstice, June 22, 1941. Considering Stalin's lack of preparation, Hitler expected the same swift victory that welcomed him in many other parts of Europe. He attacked in the summer and likely saw himself walking through the Hermitage in the fall, picking artworks to go on display in Berlin. The people of Leningrad mobilized immediately, digging ditches and throwing up a fierce defense. The elderly and young fled, leaving those able to fight behind. As the siege extended into winter, Germany's troops managed to block the rail lines, cutting off the people's access to food and heating oil. While Nazi artillery pounded the city, peaople were both freezing and starving to death. More than a million perished. Somehow the city held on, keeping the Nazi war machine to the suburbs.
While this was happening, Moscow nearly fell to the Nazis. Stalin's blunders nearly lost the capital, but Hitler's blunders proved to be greater. After securing Moscow and Stalingrad, the Red Army arrived to liberate Leningrad in January 1944. The siege lasted 900 days, the longest siege of any city in history.
So, you see, that memorial deserves more than a drive-by, even though that is all it gets. That memorial honors those who were truly the first to stop Hitler. If they had not, history would not be the same. In case it is not at the forefront of your mind, D-Day was June 6, 1944, six months after the Siege of Leningrad ended.
It is not easy to move from the Siege of Leningrad to the palaces of St. Petersburg, but that is what we have to do. In fact, that memorial stands where it does because that is the line the Nazis never crossed, meaning that our tour bus has just crossed into the territory that the Nazis did occupy.
The gate to Catherine Palace. Catherine the Great built this palace for herself, not liking the place that Peter the Great had built on the Batlic's shore. Apparently she preferred woods and lakes to the sea, and a new palace was necessary. The life of an Empress can be so hard.
Barbie welcomes you to Catherine the Great's little home away from home.
You might recall last year that I would take pictures of street performers and refer to them as beggars with an angle. For example, a street violinist would be a beggar with a fiddle. I have noticed in Russia that they have official beggars posted in key places. Ah, Russia. In some ways you are still a unicycle riding bear.
To walk through Catherine Palace, you must put booties on your shoes. By the way, I have no explanation for the lack of an apostrophe-s at the end of the word Catherine in Catherine Palace. Must have to do with Russian grammar.
The main ballroom. You have to look at the ceiling. Then again, you have to look at the walls and the floor, too. Baroque opulence at its height.
Guides always tell you how many kilograms of gold leaf was used in a room. Honestly, it would mean nothing to me in pounds, either. Suffice to say, I am impressed and repulsed at the same time. Sure, Catherine worked hard to get to her position. But to my USA mind, outmaneuvering your relatives to inherit control of an Empire is different than, say, studying hard and starting a company. Then again, this difference might also lead to Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and 38 other billionaires recently announcing that they will give half their fortunes to charity. I might propose the theory that the harder you work for it, the more willing you are to share it with the world.
The porcelain towers are actually ovens. This palace has no central kitchen, instead opting for ovens in the rooms where food would be served.
The gold is real, but if playing the Real or Fake game, based on the shape I would go with fake.
In this room, there was a portrait of Catherine the Great on wall to the right and of Peter the Great on the the wall to the left. This Pano reverses the walls, twisting the perspective. I imagine I just lost many of you. If you understood, let me know.
On one of the walls we saw this painting that depicts Rome's Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine during what appears to be the 1700's. No way to tell if it is accurate or not, but it certainly is nice to see the Colosseum surrounded by hills and pastures, even if this is fiction and the artist never visited Rome.
The flood of red light around Barbie comes from the red curtains in the window. The color in the picture is not retouched at all.
This Pano is from a hallway at the end of the tour. I have failed to tell you that the Nazi army used this palace as their headquarters during the Siege of Leningrad. The painting on the left wall represents how the Nazi's left the palace after retreating, the right shows it restored.
A photograph of Catherine Palace's stairwell after the Nazi retreat. It took over 20 years to restore this palace.
The back of the palace, facing the gardens and lakes behind it.
Ironically, Catherine built this palace and then did not like sleeping in it. This building was built as her living quarters, while the palace was used for functions and hosting guests.
You know that I love Italy, but thank goodness we are finally in a country that knows how to garden. The Italians just do not have the discipline for it. The Russians do not lack in discipline.
This building is the Admirality, or boathouse, on one of Catherine Palace's larger lakes. This Pano features two shots, 180-degrees apart. The view of the Admirality, and the view from the Admirality.
If you ever find yourself looking at a statue and finding it uninteresting, get very close to it. Perspectives matter.
Another view of Catherine Palace from its back yard. (Secret parental shot, too.)
Of course Catherine placed her own Russian Orthodox Church into the corner of the palace. How could she not?
We got back on the bus and before driving an our to Peterhof, the tour took us to this log cabin Russian restaurant.
Authentic Russian eats.
A sort of mushroom stroganoff. I quite liked it, after adding some salt.
Warm beet soup, served to us in a kettle for self-service. Note that mother is happy to serve us up.
The main course was this… nothing like a mystery meal. What is wrapped in the cabbage and grape leaf? It is at least hot, which if you know me then you know the hotness is a relief for me.
Ground lamb and rice, I think. It tasted just fine. In fact, if you were very hungry, as I was, you might call it good. Then again, I might never order this, but when presented with it without choice I cleaned my plate.
Dessert presents another mystery, though the yellow stuff is honey and you cannot go wrong with honey.
Lingonberry. If you are cool enough to have seen The Big Lebowski a few times, loganberry would make you think of the Nihilists at IHOP.
The lobby of the restaurant featured this waiter. He did not move to quickly, but Barbie saw he felt ignored by everyone else and accepted his offer of a glass of vodka.
Me and my Russian bear friend. (Once again included only for fans of The Colbert Report.)
Outside the restaurant, there was a sort of kiddie playground with chicken coops and a sort of Santa's village thingy. This is a self-portrait with one of the wooden elf-dudes, taken with the iPhone 4's forward facing camera, of course.
Time to get back on the bus and take a nap, for we are an hour away from Peterhof.
You can clearly see why Catherine did not want to use this palace as her home away from home, and had to build a new one.
They did not allow photography inside, but this older palace features smaller rooms and less elegance than Catherine Palace. So… imagine another wildly extravagant palace that is just a little less extravagant.
Peterhof was also left devastated by the war, but for a different reason. Hitler was a tad arrogant, and planned a master party at Peterhof during the Siege, even sending out ornate invitations. The Red Army got wind of this, and Stalin ordered massive bombing of the palace to prevent the party. Ironic or not, nearly all the damage to this palace was inflicted by Russians over pride.
The reason we came here. The back yard. The Grand Cascade, to be exact. This massive complex of fountains was built in the late 1600's, using the force of gravity. Top that.
Forward facing camera, again.
The Grand Cascade draws the tourists. Honestly, it is one of the most beautiful properties that you will ever see. These fountains are surround by a massive garden complex with paths, statues, and the occasional fountain. I do not know if it is possible, but I would suggest when visiting Peterhof to skip the house and just do the back yard.
The arrow on the left directs your eyes to the child playing on the storm drain. The arrow on the right directs your eyes to the parents who do not notice their child on the storm drain. This is dedicated to all my friends who are parents who would do better. Like I always tell them, do not feel any pressure as a parent. No matter what you do, there is always going to be someone doing worse. Is that not what matters?
The ancient chess of dog and squirrel, played out in the gardens of Peterhof.
All visitors to Peterhof are required by law to take pictures from each bridge that crosses the canal to The Grand Cascade. In Peter's time, there were no bridges, and he took his ship up the canal from the Baltic Sea. Yes, this was his driveway. In fact, Peter the Great was so fond of boats that he wanted Petrograd to be a city with only boats, not horse carriages. They did not start building roads in the city until after his death.
Another obligatory bridge shot. This one shows you just how crowded the bridges get, and how hard I work for you, fighting the crowds on the bridges to get you the best possible sights.
We took a hydrofoil back to the cruise ship. This is one going slowly, which is a shame. A picture of one raised up from the water on its skis would be superior.
Remember the yachty harbor of St. Tropez? I suppose this harbor is cruisy. One might suggest that the popularity of cruise ships docking on the coast of St. Petersburg also betrays the truth about the city, which is that most anyone from the West would much prefer to sleep on the coast of Russia than to actually sleep in a hotel in Russia. Every morning we show passports and have our visa checked as we cross out of the pseudo international region that is the ship and into Russia. Based on all we have seen, this is the surest way to make sure that you wake up without a missing kidney.
Time for dinner, back on the ship.
Barbie began with the fresh artichoke with tomato-herb vinaigrette.
Jeff began with the fresh oven-baked lobster strudel with crayfish beurre blanc.
My lobster strudel was served with a caviar fork, which looks very much like a mistake at the silverware manufacturer but is in fact a compromise between stabbing and scooping. And you thought the Colonel's spork was the first of its kind.
We both had the roasted butternut squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds. I should order ha Barbie orders more often. It will save time on the Waste.
Barbie's main course; carrot risotto.
Jeff's main course; tiger shrimp on spaghettini.
Dessert gets a little out of hand again, and I once again give in and take pictures of the desserts my parents order. I work on the assumption that you gluttonous Wasters love dessert.
Barbie and I both ordered the Bombolone, Italian mini brioche donuts. This is hers, as she lacks the ice cream on top.
Mother's lemon tart.
Father's banana parfait.
Jeff's bombolone, with chocolate ice cream on top.
The most decadent dessert special of the night; "Peanut Butter, Banana, and Raspberry." Banana bread, peanut butter granache, raspberry jell-o, vanilla ice cream, creme chantilly, chocolate party straw and cocoa wrap.
And someone ordered sour cherry sherbet as well.
You may or may not know that when Barbie and I stay i an hotel, and by my estimates that is one-quarter of the year, we refuse house cleaning service. We keep it clean and place out things where we want them, and do not need anyone coming in to "straighten up" by moving everything around and causing us to lose track of everything. and, really, do you need your sheets changed daily? However, since we are at the mid-point of the cruise we relented and allowed our stewardess Christy from Peru to clean our room. She did hide somethings from du, but she did a lovely job. And…
Christy placed Tack the Tiger on our bed, to greet us when we entered. He had been hanging out on Barbie's nightstand, so I found it especially cute that Christy moved him to the bed.
Until tomorrow...
Dude, the lesson on the Siege was intense.
ReplyDeleteAlso, yessir, pano wall reversal understood.